DFSee version 14.8 11-09-2017 (c) 1994-2017: Jan van Wijk
=========================[ www.dfsee.com ]==========================
DFSee Puppy-Linux based bootable USB stick: slacko-DFSee
This 'slacko-DFSee' bootable USB stick is a new bootable option
to be used for disk analysis and recovery with DFSee.
It offers booting on most modern PCs using a 4 GB or larger
memory stick, prepared with the DFSee program itself.
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Note: All (linux) programs used with this stick are |
| OPEN SOURCE (GPL), and are NOT MODIFIED for use |
| with DFSee. You can download the sources from the |
| respective websites mentioned in this document |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| The imagefile supplied here is just a REPACKAGE of |
| the files from the PUPPY slacko ISOHybrid image to |
| allow creation of the stick on any DFSee platform, |
| and to include the DFSee program itself with some |
| custom startup and filemanagement icons |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
Creating a bootable slacko-DFSee USB stick
==========================================
There are two simple steps to make a bootable DFSee stick:
- Download (refresh) the latest DFSPUPPY.IMZ imagefile
(not included in std distribution due to the size)
- Create the bootable stick itself, from the Scripts menu
(this works from a booted stick too, to create another)
Download the latest DFSPUPPY.IMZ to your DFSee installation
===========================================================
This adds, or updates, the DFSPUPPY.IMZ imagefile that must
reside in your DFSee executable directory. The exact place
depends on the platform, and method of installation used.
When in doubt, run the following DFSee command:
say download to: $_exedir
The Imagefile itself must be downloaded from:
http://www.dfsee.com/dfsee/dfspuppy.imz
Note for Windows (7, 8, 10) users:
You must copy the dfspuppy.imz to the program directory with
administrator rights! (start cmd prompt 'run as administrator')
If you are running version 14.8, this is even easier.
You can download it from the DFSee menu:
Help ->
Program Updates / Downloads ->
Get DFSPUPPY image (IMZ)
Note:
This DOES require the 'wget' utility version 1.16 or later to
be available, which is NOT standard on OS/2 or Windows.
For OS/2, if you have ArcaOS 5.0 or later, you can install the
required WGET by installing that from the package manager
called ANPM, which should be reachable from the desktop:
Computer -> Install/Remove -> Arca Noae Package Manager
Otherwise, you can download a ZIP (currently version 1.18)
from my own site:
http://dfsee.com/download/wgetos2.zip
Of course, the resulting 'wget' program has to be in the
systems PATH somewhere, for DFSee to find it ...
For Windows it also needs to be installed manually.
At the time of creating this DFSee version, wget 1.19
could be downloaded from the following URL:
https://www.eternallybored.org/misc/wget
This worked fine for me, however, the site does not seem
to have its security certificates up-to-date, so connect
and download at your own risk.
Otherwise, you can download a ZIP (currently version 1.19)
from my own site:
http://dfsee.com/download/wgetwin.zip
Of course, the resulting 'wget' program has to be in the
systems PATH somewhere, for DFSee to find it ...
Automated creation from DFSee menu
==================================
This is the easiest way to create the stick, and recommended for
most users. It will take a USB memory-stick or disk, and make
a bootable FAT32 partition up to 32Gb at the start, followed by
another FAT32 data partition taking up the rest of the space if
the stick was larger than 32Gb.
It can be found in the DFSee Scripts menu:
Scripts ->
Make Puppy-boot (USB) disk ->
... select the disk (stick) to install on ...
It will restore the downloaded DFSPUPPY.IMZ image to the stick, then
RESIZE the FAT32 partition contained in there to match the size of
the stick, and update all LVM and partition info accordingly.
Also, when the DFSee version running this is REGISTRED, it
will transfer that registration key to the stick as well.
If you need to add a registration key LATER, you must copy it to
the ROOT of the USB stick (x:\), seen as '/mnt/home' when booted
from the stick itself. There will be a temporary 'dfsee.key' there
from the initial creation of the stick.
This will make sure that the sticks data-folder (x:\dfsee) will be
accessible from almost any operating system after using it with
the PUPPY Linux boot to analyse or fix a system.
When the memory stick used already has a filesystem (is formatted)
it is recomended to UNMOUNT that before restoring the imagefile to
avoid any flushed cache data to damage the restored image.
(it works fine without this 99.9% of the time, but better be safe)
For OS/2 (and ArcaOS or eCS) users this can be done using the
regular LVM program, and then 'Hide from OS/2' for the driveletter.
For Windows (later versions, probably starting from Windows-7):
Remove the driveletter from the stick-partition using disk-manager.
For Linux and macOS, use the (new) device management function:
File ->
Device and Volume management
Unmount volumes from a disk ->
... select the disk (USB stick ...
If you are unsure which disk is the USB stick, you may use:
File ->
Device and Volume management
Display OS device/disk info
Registering the DFSee installed on the stick
============================================
When the DFSee version creating the stick is REGISTRED, it will transfer
that registration key to the proper location on the stick as well.
If you need to add a registration key LATER, you must copy it to the ROOT
of the USB stick (x:\), seen as '/mnt/home' when booted from the stick.
There will be a temporary 'dfsee.key' there from the initial creation.
Upgrading to newer DFSee versions
=================================
Since with this DFSPUPPY you have version 14.6 or later on Linux,
you can download an update directly from the DFSee menu:
Help ->
Program Updates / Downloads ->
Get latest STABLE update
Help ->
Program Updates / Downloads ->
Get latest EXPERIMENTAL update
The latter being the 'build of the day' or new version BETA,
whatever is available ...
Note:
This will also work from within other Linux, macOS, OS/2 or Windows
versions of DFSee, when a proper UNZIP and WGET utility is available.
On some Linux versions, it may be needed to run DFSee as a regular
user with ./dfsee (so WITHOUT a 'sudo' that is in the 'dfs' script)
to make sure a standard '~/Downloads' directory is available
If you do not have a working internet connection, dfsee_update.zip
can be copied to the same download directory on another system,
before booting from the stick to do the actual update.
The download directory will be the '/dfsee' or 'X:\dfsee' directory
on the stick when attached as external USB on some other system.
(and will be '/mnt/home/dfsee' in the PUPPY environment)
After copying an update, it needs to be installed
inside the PUPPY Linux environment to:
/root/dfsee
It can be installed there using the DFSee update menu/script:
Help ->
Program Updates / Downloads ->
Install a program update
(Note: Done automatically when downloading from the DFSee menu)
Getting your system to boot from USB
====================================
Most modern systems allow booting from USB devices like memory sticks,
but you usually need to do something special to make it happen, like:
- Enable boot from USB in the BIOS, usually by setting the boot order
such that the USB devices (USB HDD) come before the other disks.
- Startup with a special key sequence, often advertized on the screen
For example, on Thinkpads that would be the "Access IBM" or "ThinkVantage"
button, followed by the key to select a bootable medium.
On some HP systems it is hitting the key a few time during early boot
Check your systems documentation ...
Note:
On later Windows systems (starting from Windows 8) it may be needed to do
a special form of shutdown, to allow accessing the BIOS settings at boot.
This is done by holding the key while selecting the shutdown
from the Windows start-menu.
Using the PUPPY Linux based slacko-DFSee
========================================
- Insert the DFSPUPPY memory stick
- Start the system from the USB stick
The slacko-DFSee desktop should come up, and is a complete Linux
desktop environment with filemanageres, web-browser, and much more.
In the upper left corner, there are some DFSee specific items:
- Documentation Opens the folder with the TXT/PDF documents
- Home=USB-stick Opens the folder that should be used to store
files on the USB stick, and transfer them elsewhere.
It is /mnt/home/dfsee in the slacko-DFSee environment
and will be 'x:\dfsee' in the OS/2 or Windows world.
- mc-home-dfsee Starts a midnight commander filemanager window with
/mnt/home/dfsee on one side (data directory on stick)
and /root/dfsee on the other (DFSee program directory)
- Small Window A DFSee start icon, that start in a smallish window,
(92x28) leaving some destop space on most resolutions.
- Large Window A DFSee start icon, that starts in a huge 156x54 char
window, normally requiring a 19200x1200 resolution.
However, on smaller screens it will automatically resize
to a near full-screen window
- Browse IMZ image A DFSee start icon, that starts a file Browser window to
browse the contents of a (partition backup) IMZ image
- HEX Edit file A DFSee start icon, that starts in a medium size window
with a File-Open dialog to select a file to be edited.
On selecting a file, it will start the HEX-Edit window.
The current directory will be the program directory (/root/dfsee/linux)
but the file-dialogs will default to the data directory (/mnt/home/dfsee)
Tweaking the bootable USB stick
===============================
You can use, and make changes to anything in the Slacko / PUPPY Linux environment.
After making updates to the DFSee program, or the slacko-DFSee desktop or anything
else outside the data-area on the memory stick, make sure to use [Save] when
shutting down, or the changes will be LOST!
With this, the changes will be stored in the slackosave-DFSee.4fs container-file
in the root of the USB stick, that is automaticaly loaded at the next boot.
Note: When downloading a new DFSPUPPY.IMZ or installing a DFSee update ZIP
using the menu, you will be prompted afterwards to do a 'save now'
If you did not change anything significant, use [No Save] for a quick shutdown.